Members
Chair, Opioid Abatement Authority Board of Directors
Senator Pillion was elected to serve Virginia’s 40th Senatorial district in November of 2019, which includes Grayson, Lee, Scott, Washington, Smyth (part), Wise (part), and the city of Bristol. As a member of Virginia’s General Assembly, Todd has been recognized as a leader for Southwest Virginia and the Commonwealth through his work on the opioid epidemic, economic development, and promoting commonsense policies good for Virginia families and businesses.
After graduating Lincoln Memorial University, he attended VCU’s School of Dentistry as one of the few students from the Southwest Virginia region. During his last year in dental school, Todd helped with the inception of the Wise RAM and Mission of Mercy project. He also joined the Virginia Army National Guard and was commissioned as a Captain in its Medical Detachment.
Senator Pillion was elector Chair of the Opioid Abatement Authority Board of Directors on November 8, 2021.
Vice-Chair, Opioid Abatement Authority Board of Directors
Dr. Sarah Thomason is Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). She is the Clinical Pharmacist at the Johnson City Community Health Center, ETSU Health Internal Medicine, and the ETSU Health Center of Excellence for HIV/AIDS Care. Dr. Thomason received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (1991) and Doctor of Pharmacy (1994) degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy (VCU). She completed a Fellowship in Psychiatric Pharmacy at VCU in 1996. She has been a board-certified psychiatric pharmacist (Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties) since 1997 and a board-certified ambulatory care pharmacist since 2011. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. She performs comprehensive medication management in the areas of psychiatric and neurologic pharmacy, substance use disorders, and other primary care disorders.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources
The Honorable Janet Vestal Kelly has a distinguished career in the public and private sectors, specializing in convening leaders to solve complex problems. She most recently served as Senior Advisor for Children and Families for Governor Glenn Youngkin. In this role, she spearheaded the Safe and Sound Task Force which successfully relocated hundreds of children in foster care out of sleeping in local social services offices. In addition, she led the Prompt Placement Task Force which increased access to state psychiatric hospitals. She was also a leading force behind the recently-signed kinship legislation and the Governor's transformational behavioral health plan, Right Help, Right Now.
From 2010-2014, Secretary Kelly served as Secretary of the Commonwealth in the McDonnell Administration. Because of her family’s personal adoption journey, she launched "Virginia Adopts: Campaign for 1,000.” This initiative matched 1,041 children with adoptive families by the last year of the Administration. She and her husband, Ryan, co-founded "America’s Kids Belong" and "Virginia's Kids Belong" to continue that initiative and are staunch advocates for children, families, and workers in the child welfare system.
Secretary Kelly has also served in public sector roles as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Attorney General, Press Secretary on Capitol Hill, and Legislative Assistant in the Virginia House of Delegates. She has also consulted on seven gubernatorial transitions and served on numerous child welfare-related boards and advisory committees.
Treasurer, Opioid Abatement Authority Board of Directors
James “Jim” Holland was re-elected as the Dale District Supervisor in November 2019 and began his fourth term of four years on January 1, 2020. He was elected as the Board’s Vice Chair in 2010. He was elected as the Board’s Chair in 2014 and 2021.
Mr. Holland has been a resident of Chesterfield County since 1987. Born in Gates, North Carolina, he received a Master’s in Business Administration in 1980 from North Carolina Central University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Fayetteville State University in 1979, with honors.
Mr. Holland volunteered to serve in the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from June 1972 until December 1974, in the 18th Airborne Corp, 118th Military Police company as a Paratrooper and Military Policeman during the de-escalation of the Vietnam War. He also volunteered to serve in Vietnam and for Airborne School.
Mr. Holland is the President of Holland and Company, CPA located in Chesterfield County. He is retired from Philip Morris USA International. He is also a Professor of Accounting and CPA Advisor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Mr. Holland was appointed by Governors McDonnell and McAuliffe to serve on the Virginia Board of Accountancy from 2013 to 2017, and he was appointed to serve on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s Ethics and Continuing Professional Education Committees from 2014 to 2017. He was also appointed by Governors Warner and Kaine to the Board of Commissioners, Virginia Public School Authority from 2002 to 2008 and was appointed by Governor Kaine as Chairman in 2008.
A native of the community she now represents, Delegate Briana Sewell represents Virginia's 25th House District in the General Assembly, part of Prince William County, one of the most racially and culturally diverse counties in the United States. Upon completing her undergraduate studies at the College of William and Mary and earning her Master in Public Administration from American University, Briana served as Congressman Gerry Connolly's Prince William County District Director. She also helped establish the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, where she advocated for policies such as paid leave, affordable child care, and access to quality health care. Most recently, Briana served as Chief of Staff to the Chair At-Large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. First elected in 2021, Delegate Sewell's legislative priorities consist of leading the effort in the House to create a paid family and medical leave program, supporting veterans and teachers, and lowering the costs of prescription drugs for all Virginians.
Founder and Executive Director, Journey House Foundation
Michael Tillem is a local business owner and the Founder and Executive Director of Journey House Foundation. Michael brings extensive experience in the hospitality field, marketing, restaurant management and sales. Journey House Foundation was created because of Michael’s personal passion and life experience in long-term recovery. He identified the need for a more hands-on recovery community, that provides mentorship and a complete continuum of care for those seeking recovery. He has personal experience and first-hand knowledge of the trauma, challenges and barriers individuals and their families face when battling substance use disorder and seeking a new way of life in recovery. Michael began his recovery Journey in April of 2002 and married his wife Kimberly in 2007. Kimberly also works alongside him at Journey House Foundation. Together they understand that recovery is not only an individual journey, but also a family journey, and a community journey. By helping the individual struggling with SUD, you not only make a difference for that person, but also their family and the surrounding community. Michael and Kimberly have 4 children, Jeremy, Kaeler, Nathan and Garrett, as well as 2 grandchildren, Jayden and Emma.
Sheriff Joe Baron is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and has dedicated his life to keeping Norfolk safe, with more than 36 years of law enforcement service. He is honored to serve as sheriff, and is grateful to the people of Norfolk for electing him to the position in 2017.
Sheriff Baron is leading the Norfolk Sheriff's Office with a newly-created mission statement: to be a values-driven organization committed to public safety, public service, and public trust. His motto for his team is to serve by the Golden Rule: treat others the way we wish to be treated.
Before joining the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Baron spent 26 years on the Norfolk Police Department. Some of his notable positions include leading security plans for some of the city’s largest events, including Harborfest and presidential visits. He also served as a homicide detective, investigating 77 murders in Norfolk and solving all but seven of those cases. Sheriff Baron has a reputation for being persistent and dedicated to accountability, but it’s his passion for public service that fuels him. He retired from the Norfolk Police Department as the Violent Crimes Commander in charge of Homicide, Robbery, and Gang investigation units. In 1995, Sheriff Baron received the Norfolk Police Department’s Top Cop award.
Sheriff Baron served in the US Navy and Navy Reserves after graduating from Bayside High School in 1982. He is also a graduate from the Professional Executive Leadership School (PELS) sponsored by the Virginia Police Chief’s Foundation, and his classmates voted to give him the PELS Graduate Leadership Award.
Sharon Buckman is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor with over 30 years’ experience in public behavioral health. Over the course of her career she has been involved in development and expansion of a continuum of behavioral health and recovery services in community services boards, schools, and local correctional facilities. As the Clinical Director for Piedmont Regional Community Services Board, Sharon has focused on expansion of community-based treatment and recovery supports to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by substance use. Sharon is a lifelong Virginia resident, never straying far from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In May 2018 Daryl Washington was appointed the Executive Director of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB). As the Executive Director of the CSB, Daryl is responsible for overall operations of the CSB which is the public behavioral healthcare and developmental disability services agency for the County of Fairfax and Cities of Fairfax and Falls Church. The CSB serves approximately 22,000 individuals a year, has a staff of over 1,300 full and part time individuals, and a budget approaching $200 million dollars. Mr. Washington has 25 years of experience in the behavioral healthcare field. Prior to being selected as the executive director, Daryl served as the Deputy Director of Clinical Operations for CSB. In his role as the Deputy Director, Daryl was responsible for all clinical operations. He led a group of more than 700 employees and was responsible for clinical programming ranging from Infant and Toddler Connection to CSB emergency services. Daryl holds a Masters degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelors in social work from North Carolina State University. He has 28 years of experience as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. During Mr. Washington’s professional career, he has worked for Fairfax County Public Schools as a school social worker and several behavioral healthcare practices in the private sector, providing services to youth, adolescents, and adults. Daryl is a native to Fairfax County and Lives in the Centreville area with his wife and three kids.
Mr. Washington is a member of the Fairfax County Diversion First Executive Steering Committee and he served as a member of the statewide Marcus Alert Stakeholder group.
James Thompson is the co-founder and chief medical officer at Master Center for Addiction Medicine, a groundbreaking addiction treatment program headquartered in Glen Allen. Based on a vision of comprehensive outpatient care, Master Center was launched in 2016 and now extends to Virginia's Middle Peninsula region with an office in Gloucester, Virginia and Hampton Roads with an office in Hampton. The Master Center offers a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach rarely seen in the outpatient setting, staffed by experienced addiction physicians, psychiatrists, counselors, therapists, and peer recovery coaches. This evidence-based approach, both reliable and flexible, is meant to provide a physician-oriented response to addiction that can work seamlessly in the mainstream system of healthcare.
Dr. Thompson received his medical degree from VCU School of Medicine in 2004 and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at MCV Hospitals. He joined the American Society for Addiction Medicine in 2007 while still a resident and has been practicing in the field of Addiction Medicine since that time in a wide spectrum of settings. He was awarded Diplomate status by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in 2013 and was recognized as a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine the following year. In 2015, Dr. Thompson created the Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine with guidance from his mentor, Addiction Psychiatry pioneer Sherman Master, for whom the program was re-named: The Sherman Master Center for Addiction Medicine – or ‘Master Center’, for short.
Today, Dr. Thompson serves as the president of the Virginia chapter of ASAM and is active in both the Medical Society of Virginia and the Richmond Academy of Medicine. Dr. Thompson has been an outspoken educator and advocate for the development of a more accessible and effective approach to addiction treatment. He has been a presenter at the Virginia Summer Institute on Addiction Studies, the Educational Series at the Farley Center, National Lifestyle Intervention Conference, MSV Infuse and has been a guest lecturer at UVA and VCU Schools of Nursing and Social Work. In July 2021, Dr. Thompson was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to serve on the Opioid Abatement Authority for the State of Virginia. He recently appeared on ‘Virginia This Morning’ and ‘Ask the Doctor’ for WTVR (CBS) in Richmond to discuss the Overdose Crisis and National Recovery Month. Dr. Thompson was also featured on the prestigious Virginia Currents program for Virginia Public Television in 2020 and his pioneering work in treating opioid use disorder was the center of the documentary film “Heroin, the Hardest Hit”, produced by the office of state Attorney General in 2015. Dr. Thompson was instrumental in the effort to make naloxone (Narcan) rescue widely available in Virginia without prescription. He has been awarded ‘Top Doc’ in Addiction Medicine by Richmond Magazine in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Timothy R. Spencer has been the City Attorney for the City of Roanoke since October 2020. Prior to his appointment as City Attorney, Mr. Spencer served as Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City for more than sixteen years. Previously, Mr. Spencer served as City Attorney for the City of Danville, Virginia for more than seven years. Mr. Spencer holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Virginia Military Institute (1983), and a Juris Doctor Degree from the T. C. Williams School of Law (1986). Mr. Spencer was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 1986 and is admitted to practice before, the Supreme Court of Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia. Mr. Spencer is a past President of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia (“LGA”). Mr. Spencer is also a past President of the Virginia Council of School Board Attorneys (“COSA”). Mr. Spencer served as an adjunct professor for Hampton University, teaching graduate level courses in educational and administrative law.